Kozuki Nori
Appearance Kozuki has long, straight black hair. In front, his hair is kept stroked backwards, with occasionally a few strands of hair falling down to his eyes, though he sometimes keeps his hair out of his eyes by using a hair band. His eyes are also very narrow, and are a slate blue in color. Typically he is seen smirking or smiling, with his hands resting comfortably in his pockets. Often, Kozuki will untidily wear a chefs uniform, consisting of a neat shirt, a blazer jacket, pants and black polished shoes. Though occasionally he forgoes this for the more comfortable pool boy, t-shirt and shorts combo, usually pairing it flip-flops. Rarely is Kozuki seen without a Log Pose on his wrist; though the tool in particular holds little sentimental value, it serves as a reminder of home. Voice Theme Personality Kozuki is, by nature, a cheerful person - rarely is he seen upset, and even less so angry. At his core, he’s somewhat listless and leisurely, making him the kind of person that appears content with life, shown by the composed smile that he often displays. He’s generally calm and level-headed, judicious at the best of times, and foolish at the worst. Quips and jokes are commonplace for Kozuki, and he is often able to see the humor in even the worst situation; making him a generally amusing person to be around, even if his one-liners occasionally land him in trouble. Kozuki also exhibits a number of devious and cunning qualities, leaving him to play unfairly and underhandedly without regard for glory or honor; these characteristics, however, do not conflict with his virtue or sense of morality. Considering himself to be excessively normal, Kozuki comically maintains the belief that he is, in fact, completely unremarkable - going hand in hand with this, Kozuki expresses mild irritation with anything or anyone that is totally bizarre, often stating that he’s thrown-off as a result. His instincts and impulses for adventure fight against every indifferent and lazy part of his personality; something that he can't quite properly explain himself, claiming only that outlandish and bizarre things have a way of following him and the Nori blood that spurs him through them - as such, he's somewhat of a believer in destiny and fate, If there’s one thing that Kozuki loves, and excels at, it’s cooking. From a simple steak to an extravagant lobster bisque, Kozuki enjoys cooking in every aspect. Each dish is prepared with a level of care and skill seen in only world class chefs, making most of his dishes something really special. Despite this, his amount of concern and respect for the kitchen doesn’t extend far beyond his love for food and it’s preparation; and as such, he doesn’t feel bound by some kind of chefs honor that would compel him to feel insulted should somebody not enjoy his food. Quirks * Likes anything lemon flavored (especially lemon soda), instant noodles, gossip and rumors (especially the perverse kind), making people feel uncomfortable. * Dislikes being touched, heights, early starts, exerting himself. * Hates bugs - especially spiders. * Is an avid believer of the supernatural. * Has a bad habit of inadvertently setting fire to things, picked up from his father. * Especially enjoys using overdone, cliche one-liners, something picked up from his mother. * Often cries "'''Iru'rururu~!"'' when doing something like throwing a flurry of punches. Iru literally means to roast, fry, or fire in the verb sense - (炒る). This is a reference to Star Platinum's famous battle cry "ORAORAORA~!" ''from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Biography In the first half of the Grand Line, known as Paradise, is a port town named Nanohana that resides on the island of Alabasta - here, Kozuki was born and raised. The town is known for its great shops and its irresistible perfume, and is also the principal entrance of Alabasta - as such the streets are always crowded. As a port town, commercial trading especially flourishes, making the town one of the best places to find a job in all of Alabasta. Coming from a long line of intrepid Nori descendants, a destiny for adventure ran through his blood from the day he was born. Kozuki’s father, 'Koichiro Nori, had been touted as one of the greatest cooks of his time within the Grand Line, famously earning himself the title of “Ship Burner” for setting ablaze over 40 ships in his lifetime; all of which he claims were genuine accidents in the kitchen. As neither a pirate nor marine, Koichiro had cooked aboard plenty of ships and various restaurants, all of which seemed to end with his actions earning him the ire of sailors all across the Grand Line. The incidents came to be well known among veteran sailors, leading many to suggest that his food was so good, it was worth burning down one’s own ship for. Unfortunately, one such ship was that of a pirate crew captained by a notoriously cruel man named '''Randall G. Hawkins, leading Koichiro to be hunted by pirates throughout the Grand Line for a period of time. Kozuki’s mother, Ryūko Nori, was a known pirate of the North Blue sea. Also a chef by trade, she sailed under a small time pirate crew as the ship’s cook. Well known among those who met her as a fierce and stubborn individual, she quickly earned herself an infamous reputation in parts of the North Blue. Shortly after entering the Grand Line, Ryūko met the famous cook whom she had heard plenty about, Koichiro Nori, who promptly burned down their ship in a drunken stupor. Despite the fact that the events inevitably disbanded the crew to which Ryūko belonged, the pair fell in love and settled in Alabasta before marrying and giving birth shortly thereafter. In Nanohana, the pair started their own restaurant which was aptly titled Ryūkozuki, a reference to their newborn child, Kozuki. At the young age of 6, Kozuki waved his mother off as she set sail from the port of Nanohana for a place she called Sky Island. Having received word that her old crew had reformed and set out seeking the island only to vanish, Ryūko too set off alone in search of them, only to never return. At the time, Koichiro had come to be confident in Ryūko’s abilities, openly admitting that she was far stronger than he, leaving him unworried about what might happen. To this day, Koichiro still believes that she will one day return. Working in his father’s restaurant from a young age, Kozuki quickly developed the skills needed to call himself a cook. Sharing an extremely close bond with his father, the pair ran the restaurant with very few staff, never really growing beyond the small time oriental eatery that they were. At some point or another, a strange man with four-swords and his blind partner settled in Nanohana, becoming regulars at their family restaurant. Coming to be something of family friends, the man told Kozuki stories of his travels across the East Blue sea to the Grand Line. The stories further spurred Kozuki's oddly instinctive desire to travel the world, an impulse picked up from his parents and a call that no Nori could ignore. At the request of an eager to adventure Kozuki, and upon noticing the way in which he handled heat within the kitchen and the toughness of his calloused skin, the man began teaching Kozuki the basics of an appropriate hand-to-hand combat style known as Ryū-ken; Dragon Fist - a form of martial arts requiring a natural resistance to heat. Under the tutelage of his father, Kozuki has become something of a world class chef, displaying talents coveted by many who call themselves a cook - and through a brief period of training with the mysterious stranger, he learned the foundations of a unique and fitting combat style. Taking these skills, Kozuki left home at the age of 19, to broaden his horizons and learn about the foods of the world. His ambition is nothing beyond learning everything he possibly can about the foods of various cultures, islands and seas - as such, he’s especially willing to go to great lengths to discover and invent new foods and recipes. Setting sail for the sea in which his mother was born, Kozuki arrived in the North Blue with an open mind and a sense of humor, ready to begin his adventure. Professions Primary Profession: Chef Primary Trait:'' Chefs can create techniques that are lavish meals, drinks, and dishes that grant stat buffs to whoever partake of them. As these meals require a proper kitchen to prepare and the time to properly eat and digest them, these buffs are only usable out of combat.'' A chef is someone who deals with foods, drinks and kind of consumable. They have skills in the kitchen to create whatever dishes they can think up in order to serve up a delicious meal to others. They have knowledge on flavoring, proper preparation, ingredients, drink, and nutrients in order to create fantastic meals for others to partake in. From properly learning their craft, Chefs possess iron level resistance to cutting based attacks from their shoulders to their hands. Secondary Profession: Martial Artist (Dragon Fist | 龍拳, Ryū-Ken) A Martial Artist is someone who specializes in hand-to-hand combat, completely or very close to unarmed. They usually have good insight in the aspects of weight, balance and movement of the body. This character has honed their body and trained extensively in Ryū-Ken and can create techniques that in keeping in line with that style of fighting, exceeding rank 7 (seven). Traits Professional Traits Training of the Kitchen (1 Slot): After spending so long in front of the open fires in the kitchen, the character gains high resistance to heat-based attacks similar to having an iron body. Any heat-based attack that wouldn’t damage iron does significantly reduced damage to this character. Despite this, fire is still normally effective against them. In Training (1 Slot): A trait designed to simply be used when you don’t know what to put your free professional trait in. You can remove this trait from your character at any time and spend it on something else. This trait can be taken up to six times. 'General Traits' Interim of the Observant (4 Slots): Seeing the world as it goes by and seeing all the change the world makes, is the desire of someone who truly wishes to observe. This character is granted a temporary boost in perception, by 12 points. While this character has slotted this trait, they cannot take another trait with ‘Interim’ in the name except for this one. This trait can be slotted multiple times, so long as you have the available slots. Combat Style Kozuki uses a form of martial arts that is fueled by pure emotion; called Dragon Fist or Ryū-Ken. The style taps into the angry, Animalistic instincts of the user for focused and beastly attacks. Basic techniques involve powerful punches, debilitating palm strikes and lightning fast kicks, all of which use scale like flesh, that is as hard as iron and resistant to heat, developed through a special form of intense training and experience in the kitchen. What makes the style unique, aside from the iron-skin, is the random and unpredictable nature of each attack that follows no rhyme or reason, being directed only the emotions that govern the user's actions. The style itself is not only unpredictable by nature, but also technique itself, with the inclusion of beast like attacks into standard combat - like biting! (Chomp!) In it's later stages, Ryū-Ken introduces the use of fire and heat into the users attacks - such as flaming punches or metal-melting palm strikes. At it's peak, it can even involve turning the users emotions and energy into tangible attacks. To reach this level, the user must have total mastery of their mind, body and spirit - using them as one. These kinds of techniques are considered Magical or Physics Bending at the very least. The basic physical combat itself focuses on one of two particular ways of fighting depending on the situation. The fist being calculated attacks aimed at vital parts of the targets body in order to incapacitate them as quickly as possible, while the second typically combines the raw emotion of the user with wild, all-out assaults in order to literally pummel the enemy into submission - making the style totally offense oriented, designed to destroy targets in as little time as possible. Statistics Items Paradise Log Pose (50 Beli): The standard Log Pose is a wrist watch with a glass orb sitting on top, and a needle floating inside the middle of that orb suspended from the top by a thin piece of metal or wire. The Log Pose functions by recording the magnetic wave of an island in the Grand Line, and points to the next island for the user to travel to. Once on an island for the required amount of time, the recording of the magnetic wave resets to accommodate the new island. Iron Kitchen Knives (x50)(3000 Beli): ''A set of high-quality, iron kitchen knives with a modern design. No cook worth their salt uses anything but the best tools for the job; these kitchen knives make cutting, chopping and dicing ingredients a breeze for a trained chef. Although entirely useless and prone to breaking in melee combat, they make excellent throwing weapons. 'Wooden Case' ''(2500 Beli): A wooden case with a combination lock and a carry handle, used to store a nice set of kitchen knives. The inside is lined with a red velvet material, and is also spacious enough to store a few other tools, such as a hot plate and a small pan. Badass Coat: A beautiful long coat with a flaming skull wearing shades on the back. It is said this coat was worn by a man who never gave up and inspired others to do the same. Once per Mini Arc, the wearer of this coat can attempt to inspire a named NPC to take action instead of simply waiting for the player character's to deal with a problem for them. Ultimately, the results of this effect are down to the person in charge of said NPC, but it should be known that the wearer is very convincing. Techniques Martial Techniques Meal Techniques 'Gallery' Kozuki3.jpg Kozuki10.jpg Kozuki6.jpg Kozuki4.jpg Kozuki12.jpg Kozuki11.jpg Kozuki13.jpg Kozuki5.jpg Kozuki8.jpg Kozuki9.jpg Kozuki2.jpg Feats * Winner of the Savory Plains Tournament: Defeating his opponent through a combination of grit and pure luck, Kozuki made it through each round to win 1st prize in the Savory Plains tournament. * Time Stopper: During the Savory Plains tournament, Kozuki drank an odd tonic that gave him the mysterious ability to stop time. He used his moment in frozen time to play a few pranks, cook a mean steak and win his fight. Category:Approved